Untitled Zelda Story Part 1
by ChandaK562
Summary: Something's happened to Zelda. Can her sister help her?
1. Default Chapter Title

# **Untitled Story Part 1**

"Ten o'clock." Hilda muttered as she glanced at the clock and then back at the door. "Where is Zelda? She's out on a date with Willard Kraft! It's not like she could be having fun."

Just then the door came open and Sabrina came hurrying in carrying her bookbag. "Hi, Aunt Hilda. Sorry I was gone so long. Val and I were trying to finish up our big English project. So, how did Aunt Zelda's date with Mr. Kraft go?"

"I don't know." Hilda said as she looked at the clock again and then back at the door.

"So bad she couldn't even talk about it, huh? We'll I'm going to bed. Four hours of Shakespeare was murder. Goodnight, Aunt Hilda."

"Goodnight, Sabrina." Hilda said as Sabrina hurried up the stairs, leaving her setting on the living room couch with the lights dimmed.

'Zelda's fine.' Hilda muttered as she settled back onto the couch so that she could watch the door without appearing too ovious. 'But still, I better stay up and wait for her, just in case her date was horribly traumatic and she needs to talk.'

************

"Bye, Aunt Hilda! Bye, Aunt Zelda!"

"What?" Hilda muttered as she sat up on the couch and looked up to see Sabrina hurrying out the door.

"I'm running late for school!" Sabrina called as she hurried out yelling back over her shoulder. "Aunt Hilda, you really shouldn't sleep on the couch. It's bad for your back!"

"Wait, a minute!" Hilda cried as she darted over to the door. "Sabrina, is Zelda in the kitchen?"

"No. I haven't seen her this morning. I guess she's still in bed. I knew Mr. Kraft could put anyone to sleep. Oh, man! I am going to be so late!" Sabrina cried as she darted off.

"Zelda!" Hilda called as she hurried up the stairs and into her sister's room. "Zeldy, what..... Zelda?"

"Where is she?" Hilda muttered as she stared in shock at Zelda's still made bed. It didn't look like it have been slept in at all.

"Zelda?" Hilda called as she went back out into the hall and started walking from room to room opening doors and looking for her sister. She went into Sabrina's room and spotted Salem sleeping on the bed. "Salem, have you seen Zelda this morning?"

"I haven't seen anything but the inside of my eyelids." Salem said as he opened his eyes and stretched. "Where's breakfast?"

"Here." Hilda said as she pointed her finger and a bowl of tuna appeared on the floor. I'm going to check the Other Realm. Maybe Zelda had to go there for something. If she comes in before I get back, tell her to wait for me in the kitchen!"

Nearly an hour later, Hilda stepped out of the linin closet to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning. She hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen. She looked around hopefully as she came in but the only one there was Salem who was ripping the top off of a cereal box.

"Zelda hasn't showed up?" Hilda asked the cat.

"No. Can you get the milk?" Salem muttered as he started to munch the Lucky Charms.

"Here." Hilda said as she pointed and a bowl of milk appeared on the table. "Salem, where could she be?"

"Maybe her date went really well?" Salem said as he looked up from his meal. "Do you want some of these? Those leprechauns sure know how to make good cereal."

"I'm not hungry. I'm going to call some people around here. Maybe someone's seen her." Hilda said as she picked up the phone book and started to flick through it.

***********

"Val, what's going on?" Sabrina said as she came into class that morning. "I just passed Mrs. Quick in the hall and she looked even more nervous than usual if that's possible."

"Didn't you hear, Sabrina?" Val said. "Mr. Kraft disappeared! He never showed up this morning and no one knows where he is! All of the teachers are totally freaked!"

"Really? That's so wierd." Sabrina said as she sat down. "He went out with Aunt Zelda last night. I wonder if she has any idea what happened? I'll call her after this class and see."

Just then Libby came in. She looked pale, her hair was messy and she wasn't even wearing makeup. She dropped into her seat without even making a smart remark to Sabrina and Val.

"What's wrong with Libby?" Sabrina whispered as the teacher came in and class started.

"Who knows? She was acting funny when I got here this morning and found out that Mr. Kraft had disappeared."

************

"Hi!" Hilda said as her neighbor picked up the phone. She had been calling people for almost two hours now with no luck. This neighbor was her last hope. "This is Hilda Spellman, your neighbor. I'm sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you might have seen a car pull into our driveway last night sometime after ten. No, nothing's wrong. It's just.... " Hilda paused as she thought up a plausable story to tell instead of the truth. "My sister left a check for me to give to a friend of hers. They were supposed to drop by last night to get it but I fell asleep and didn't hear anyone knock. I was wondering if you might have seen them pull in. I'm sure I wouldn't sleep through someone ringing the bell but I'd like some proof to offer Zelda. Oh, okay. You were up till one and you didn't see anyone come by. Okay. Thanks."

"Salem, Zelda didn't come home last night!" Hilda cried as she hung up the phone. "Where could she be?"

"She went out with Mr. Kraft." Salem said. "I don't think you want to imagine where she could be or what she could be doing."

"EEEEEWWWW!!!" Hilda cried as sudden frightening thoughts ran through her mind. "What if they eloped? I'm going down to that school to find out what Mr. Kraft did to my sister!"

"Great. You can kill Sabrina's appitite too." Salem muttered.

"I'll call the school." Hilda muttered as she picked up the phone again and started to dial. "Hi, Mrs. Atherton, this is Hilda Spellman. I need to talk to Mr. Kraft. What?! Well, where is he? Okay, well, if he comes in, tell him to call me. He has the number."

"Mr. Kraft isn't in." Hilda muttered as she hung up the phone. "No one knows where he is. Salem, I'm calling the police."

"The police?"

"Willard's so dull, maybe he bored Zelly to death." Hilda said as she dialed 911. "Hello, this is Hilda Spellman. I'd like to place a missing person's report. My sister, Zelda, went out last night and she never came home."

"Ma'am, that doesn't seem like the sort of business for the police." the officer said.

"I know that that doesn't sound very serious," Hilda said, "but she went out with the most boring man in the world and I should know. I dated him before her. He might have bored her to death! You have to find her!"

"Ms. Spellman, I'm afraid we can't file a missing person's report for two days." the officer said. "Why don't you just relax? I'm sure your sister will be home soon."

"Two days? I have to wait two days before I can report her missing? But what if something happened to her? The guy she went out with didn't show up for work this morning and no one can find him either. This just isn't like Zelda, officer." Hilda whispered. "She would never just disappear. Our niece lives with us. Zelda would never just leave and let Sabrina and I worry about her."

"Ms. Spellman, what's the name of the man she went out with? Maybe we can get in touch with him so you can be sure your sister's safe."

"Willard Kraft. He's the high school vice principal."

"Kraft? What does your sister look like?"

"She's very pretty. She's in her mid-thirties and she has shoulder length blonde hair and green eyes. She's about 5'8". Maybe 120 pounds or so. I have pictures. Should I bring one down?"

"Not right now. Why don't you just stay at home. We'll look for your sister and when we find her, we'll call you."


	2. Default Chapter Title

# **Untitled Zelda Story Part 2**

"Aren't you going to eat lunch?" Salem said an hour later.

"I'm not hungry." Hilda muttered. "When are they going to call?"

"If you don't feed me soon, the humane society will be calling." Salem said.

"Here." Hilda said as she pointed and a bowl of cat food appeared. Just then the phone rang and she dove for it. "Hello!"

"Is this Ms. Hilda Spellman?"

"Yes!" Hilda cried.

"Ms. Spellman, this is Officer Parker of the Westbridge police department. I'm calling to inform you that your sister Zelda Spellman has been involved in an accident."

"An accident? What happened? Where is she?" Hilda cried.

"She's being taken to the hospital. You should go down there as soon as possible. Do you have a friend or relative who could drive you?"

"I'm fine. I've got to go." Hilda cried as she hung up the phone. She pointed and a folder and her coat appeared on the table.

"I hope this is the right insurance file." Hilda muttered as she pulled on her coat. "Salem, stay here and don't say a word to Sabrina. I'll be home as soon as I can. I just hope Zelly's with me!"

***********

"I'm looking for Zelda Spellman." Hilda said as she hurried up to the desk in the emergency room. "The police called and told me she had been brought in."

"Are you a relative?" the nurse said as she came over to Hilda.

"She's my older sister." Hilda said.

"Why don't you come with me?" the nurse said as she led Hilda down the hall and into a private room. "Just sit down and I'll go and get the doctor."

"A private room. This isn't good." Hilda said as she dropped down onto the couch as the nurse walked out. "She has to be alright."

A few minutes later the door opened and the doctor came in. "Ms. Spellman?" he said as Hilda jumped up.

"Yes. How's my sister?" Hilda said.

"I'm afraid I don't have good news for you, Ms. Spellman." the doctor said as he led Hilda to a chair and then sat down facing her.

"What happened to Zelly?" Hilda whispered. "She went out on a date last night and she never came home."

"It appears that your sister and her date, a Mr. Willard Kraft were the victims of a hit and run driver. Their car was rear ended on a road with a very steep embankment. The car rolled over the edge and flipped several times before hitting a tree."

"How bad?" Hilda whispered. She could feel tears starting to form in her eyes but she struggled to hold them back.

"Mr. Kraft was relatively lucky. His seat belt held him in place. He suffered several fractures and serious internal injuries but it looks like he will recover fully. I'm afraid that your sister wasn't so lucky. Apparently, there was some sort of defect in her seat belt. It gave most likely when the car was first struck and your sister suffered severe internal injuries as well as a major head injury. The accident occurred at around ten o'clock but they weren't found until nearly ten this morning. I'm afraid that initial delay complicated your sister's condition. She had major brain swelling and had to be taken to the operating room on arrival. I'm afraid that she suffered a cardiac arrest on the table. She was revived but it this point things don't look hopeful. You're sister is in a coma and on total life support. I'm sorry to have to tell you this."

"When can I see her?" Hilda whispered as she started to cry.

"She's been moved to a room in ICU. I'm afraid you'll only be able to see her for a few minutes. Hospital rules limit visitation."

"Fine. Just take me to her." Hilda sobbed as the doctor led her out.

A few minutes later, they stepped into a small room in ICU. Zelda was laying in the bed hooked to a respirator with IV's dripping in both arms. A heart monitor was beeping in the background. Her head was covered in bandages with a bolt sticking out and connected to one of the machines by a tube. Zelda's eyes were covered with gauze pads and taped shut.

"I'm afraid you can only stay fifteen minutes." the doctor said.

"Fine. I'd like to be alone, please." Hilda whispered as she sat down beside her sister and gently wrapped her fingers around Zelda's hand, being careful not to disturb the monitor clip that was attached to one finger. How could this have happened to her sister?

"Zelly, it's Hildy." Hilda whispered as the doctor left. "I know you can hear me. Please wake up, Zelda. Wake up!"

Hilda was sitting by Zelda's bedside frantically racking her brain trying to think of any spells that she might know for putting her sister back together again when a nurse came in.

"I'm sorry," she said as she walked over to Hilda, "but visiting is over. You'll have to leave now."

"Alright." Hilda said as she stood up. When can I come back to see her again?"

"In four hours. Oh, her doctor needs to speak to you as soon as possible concerning her treatment."

"Okay." Hilda said as she hurried out into the ICU waiting room. She was in deep shock and felt like a robot that had to do as programmed. She couldn't believe this had happened to her sister.

"Miss Spellman?" the doctor asked as he came over to her.

"Yes. The nurse said you needed to talk to me."

"Yes. Why don't you come in here. We'll have more privacy." the doctor said as he led Hilda to a private room. "Miss Spellman, you've seen your sister, haven't you?"

"Yes." Hilda whispered.

"Miss Spellman, I'm afraid I don't have any hope to offer you concerning your sister. The preliminary tests show definite signs of brain damage. Your sister's chances of coming out of her coma are 1 in a million and even if she does come out of it, I'm afraid that she will be severely limited. Has your sister ever mentioned what she would like done in a situation like this?"

"No." Hilda whispered. "Isn't there something that can be done?"

"I'm afraid not. Right now the only thing that's keeping your sister alive is the machines she's connected to. I know this will be very painful but you need to start thinking about at what point you might be willing to terminate the life support."

"What? You mean you want me to let her die?" Hilda whispered.

"No. I just want you to think about all of your options. We'll talk more later." he said as he stood up and walked out.

**********

"Val, do you know what this assembly's about?" Sabrina said as she came into the school auditorium and took a seat by her friend.

"No idea." Val said. "My science teacher was really upset though. I think something serious is going on."

"Students, this assembly will just take a few minutes." the secretary said as she stepped onto the stage and went to the podium. "I'm very sorry to have to tell you this but Mr. Kraft was injured in a car crash today. He's in the hospital in intensive care. Since the principal is in Arizona at a principal's conference, the school board has designated a temporary substitute until he returns or Mr. Kraft is able to resume his duties. As of now, Ms. Quick will be new acting vice principal."

A couple of custodians came in dragging Ms. Quick. The pushed her over to the podium where she stood there frozen in terror.

"Would you like to say a few words to the students?" the secretary asked.

"Yes! Go home! School's dismissed!" She cried.

**********

"How's Zelda?" Salem said as Hilda came hurrying in.

"Not good. They don't think she's going to make it." Hilda said as she dropped into a chair. "They won't let me see her for another four hours so I thought I should come home and wait for Sabrina."

Just then the front door came open and Sabrina came hurrying in.

"Aunt Hilda, have you heard about Mr. Kraft?" she cried. "He was in a car crash! They stuck Ms. Quick in charge of the school so she let us all go early. Where's Aunt Zelda? I want to tell her!"

"Sabrina, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Hilda said as she led Sabrina to a chair and motioned for her to sit down. "Zelly was with Mr. Kraft when his car crashed and I'm afraid she got hurt really bad. She's in the hospital."


	3. Default Chapter Title

# **Story Part 3**

"What? Aunt Zelda's in the hospital?" Sabrina cried. "How? She's going to be alright, isn't she?"

"I don't know, Sabrina. The doctor isn't very hopeful. She's in a coma right now." Hilda said. She felt so helpless. Zelda was the smart one who always took care of everything and now for all intents and purposes, her sister was gone, lost in a coma, leaving Hilda in charge. She could feel the pressure of her sudden responsibility weighing down on her but she forced herself to be strong. Zelda needed her help now.

"A coma? Isn't there something that we can do for her? Some sort of spell that would cure her?" Sabrina said as she started to sob. "What do witches do when things like this happen?"

"Sabrina, as far as I know, something like this has never happened before. If a witch gets hurt, they usually recover fairly quickly or very rarely die. I've never heard of one that ended up in a coma before."

"What? Then what can we do for her? We have to help her, Aunt Hilda!"

"I'm going to try talking to Drell. Maybe he knows of something that I don't."

"Drell?" Salem said. "You're going to Drell for help? He'll probably just offer to turn her into a vegetable or something."

"He won't do that!" Hilda said as she glared at the cat. "Besides, according to her doctor, she's already one anyway. That reminds me of what I have to do when we go back to the hospital. Fire that doctor and find one that doesn't want to kill poor Zelly."

"The doctor wants to kill her? I thought they had to take some sort of oath not to kill people in medical school!"

"Apparently this doctor was out sick the day they took that oath or something. He wants me to pull the plug on poor Zelda, as if I could ever do that."

"Pull the plug? Aunt Hilda...."

"Sabrina, it will be okay. Zelly's strong. We just have to find a spell to fix things."

"Aunt Hilda, how bad is she really?"

"I don't know. According to the doctor she hurt her head pretty bad. I knew that it was a bad idea for her to go out with Willard Kraft! This is all his fault!"

"What happened?"

"They got hit by some idiot and Zelly's seatbelt gave because Willard was too cheap to take care of his car, I'm sure, not to mention the fact that he should never have been permitted to get a driver's liscense!! That idiot walked away with scratches and my sister.... If I ever see him again, I'm going to kill him!"

"I want to be next in line." Sabrina whispered. "Aunt Hilda, can we go and see Aunt Zelda?"

"We'll go as soon as I get back from talking to Drell." Hilda said as she stood up. "Sabrina, I need you to do something for me. I need you to get in touch with Vesta and your dad and let them know what happened."

"What about Grandma?"

"Don't call her now. Zelly's too sick to have to suffer through a visit from mother right now. Just tell Vesta and your dad to get here as soon as possible."

*********

"Drell, I need to talk to you!" Hilda called as she came into Drell's house. The Witches' Council hadn't been in sesson when she arrived forcing her to waste time hunting Drell down. Every moment that she searched for him, Hilda grew more frightened for her sister. She was terrified that Zelda was suffering horribly and she couldn't stand that thought.

"Hilda?" Drell said as he came in. As soon as he saw the blonde witch, a suspicious expression appeared on his face. "What do you want? We didn't have a date that I forgot, did we?"

"You've only forgotten our dates a million times." Hilda grumbled before getting to the reason that she was there. "Drell, I need your help."

"You want a favor? Hilda, you know that I don't do favors!" Drell said.

"Drell, this is serious! Zelda was in an accident and she's hurt really bad! I need your help to cure her!"

"What? Hilda, I don't know...."

"At least come with me to see her! Once you see how serious this is, there's no way that you can tell me no!" Hilda cried as she pointed them to the hospital. She didn't know what she would do if Drell refused to help her.

As soon as they appeared in the room, Hilda immediately hurried to her sister's side. She carefully took her sister's hand and tears started to flow. It was so painful to see Zelda like this and Hilda knew that her sister would hate being in this condition. "Drell, you have to help her. I can't loose my sister!" she sobbed.

"Hilda, look." Drell said as he pointed and a model of a brain appeared in front of them. Large areas of the model were colored black. "See all of the black areas? Those are areas that are damaged. It can't be fixed, Hilda."

"No! There has to be something! I can't loose her!" Hilda sobbed.

"If it will help, I'll send flowers to the funeral." Drell said.

"That wasn't funny!" Hilda waved her pointing finger menacingly in Drell's direction. She didn't understand why she had ever went out with Drell in the first place. He was such a jerk, making jokes when Zelda was suffering so. "Now help me fix this! There has to be something that can be done! I refuse to let my sister die!"

"The only suggestion that I have is to try to find the queen of the flower fairies. She's supposed to have healing powers. They might be strong enough to repair the damage."

"The queen of the flower fairies? Well, where do I find her? Is she in the witches' directory?"

"No. She disappeared over fifty years ago. No one has any idea where to look for her. Frankly, I think planning a funeral would be simpler. Let me know where to send the flowers." Drell said as he pointed himself home.

"I don't know what I ever saw in that man!" Hilda muttered as she gently kissed her sister's forehead. "Zelly, don't you worry. I'm going to take care of you. You're going to be okay. I have to go home now to get Sabrina but I'll be right back. I love you, Zelly. Just hang on."

********

The first thing that Hilda heard when she came into the house was Sabrina sobbing. She hurried into the kitchen and found Sabrina sitting at the table crying. Vesta was trying to comfort her while yelling into the phone at the same time. To Hilda's dismay her mother was also at the table with a shocked expression on her face. Her mother was the last person that Hilda wanted to deal with right now. Plus, when Zelda woke up, she was going to be very unhappy to find their mother there.

"I don't care that your planet's a war zone! Get him on this phone right now!" Vesta cried.

"What's going on?" Hilda said as she sat down and wrapped her arms around Sabrina.

"Ted's somewhere in the Orion Nebula trying to negotiate a treaty. Apparently he left messages that he wasn't to be disturbed." Vesta grumbled. "What did Drell say? Can he fix things? I suppose I should find out about that before I start turning people into pigs."

"He can't do anything. He told me that the only person that possibly could help is the queen of the flower fairies." Hilda said.

"What? Sabrina, be a dear and hold this line for me. If your father happens to answer by some miracle, turn on the the waterworks. Hilda, can I speak to you for a minute?" Vesta said as she grabbed her little sister's arm and pulled her into the living room.

"What's going on? Do you know something about this fairy?" Hilda asked. Maybe things were going to be simple after all.

"Hilda, no one's even sure that there is a flower queen anymore. Didn't Drell tell you that the queen disappeared over fifty years ago?"

"Yes, but it sounds like he left out something important." Hilda muttered. "Why don't you tell me what he forgot to mention and then I'll make a little sidetrip to turn Drell into something."

"Not a cat! I'm not sharing my litter box with that blowhard!" Salem said as he jumped onto the couch.

"I think a pig would suit Drell more." Hilda said. "Vesta, what do you know?"

"Well, I met the nicest air fairy a few years ago at a party and she told me the story of the flower queen's disappearance. It seems that the queen and her husband were overthrown. Her husband was killed and the queen vanished with her son."

"Okay. Drell didn't go into details but that doesn't sound too different from what he told me."

"Hilda, what he left out is what happened to the queen later. There's a flower in the royal garden that the queen plants upon taking the throne. When the queen dies, the flower dies as well. Ten years after the flower queen vanished, her flower died."

"What?! So, there is no flower queen? When I get my hands on Drell.....!!!"

"That isn't necessarily true. The powers of healing that the flower queens are supposed to have are only inherited by daughters so the queen's son wouldn't have had them. The queen was pregnant when she disappeared though and if that baby was a girl...."

"Then she could help Zelda! We have to find her!" Hilda cried.

"Hilda, don't get too excited. It's been over fifty years and this girl may not even exist. If she does, no one has ever seen her. It's going to be next to impossible to find her."

"I don't care! She has to be out there somewhere and we have to find her! She's Zelda's only hope!" Hilda said as they started back to the kitchen. "By the way, why's Mother here?"

"She was visiting me when Sabrina called. Sabrina, did you talk to your father?" Vesta asked as they entered the kitchen and she saw that Sabrina was off the phone.

"Yes. He'll be here as soon as he can but apparently things are pretty bad where he is. He isn't sure how long it will be. Aunt Hilda, can we go to the hospital to see Aunt Zelda now?"

"Sure. Come on." Hilda said as she headed for the door followed by the other three witches.


	4. Default Chapter Title

# **Untitled Zelda Story Part 4**

Willard Kraft crept cautiously down the hall praying that none of the nurses spotted him. Ever since he had woke up several hours before, he had asked anyone he could find to tell him how Zelda was but no one would give him any information. 

Willard remembered the last time that he saw Zelda. He had woke up within minutes of the crash and had immediately looked over to see if Zelda was alright. The first thing that he saw was the blood on the shattered window and then he saw Zelda crumpled in a heap with her head resting against the dashboard. He could tell that she was weakly breathing but she didn't answer him when he called her name and tried to wake her. Willard tried to get out of the car, thinking that he could get to the road and find a phone to call for help but as soon as he tried to move, pain shot through his leg and he knew that he would never be able to get to the road. He screamed for help for what felt like hours but no one heard him. The temperature was steadily dropping and he shivered from the cold. He knew that it wasn't a good idea to move Zelda when she he didn't know how badly she was hurt but he couldn't just let her freeze to death. He carefully raised Zelda's head and gathered her against him. Her breathing was so weak that he could barely feel it. He kept talking to her promising that she would be alright and gently kissing her cheek until he finally passed out again. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the hospital with his right leg in a cast and no idea how Zelda was.

Luckily there wasn't a nurse at the station so he was able to sneak a look at Zelda's chart and see which room she was in. He hobbled to the room as fast as he could and slowly pushed the door open. He was shocked by Zelda's appearance and all of the machines that she was connected to. He hurried to her bedside and dropped into the chair beside the bed.

"Zuzu, I'm so sorry," he whispered as he took her hand and kissed her fingers. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "This should have happened to me instead of to you. I'm sorry."


	5. Chapter 5

"Wait a minute!" the nurse said as Hilda, Vesta, Sabrina and the sisters' mother came into the Intensive Care unit and started to head for Zelda's room. "You can't just come in here! It's not visiting hours yet and only one person is allowed in here at time!"

"Try enforcing that rule in a swamp," Hilda muttered as she glanced around to make sure no one was watching and then pointed at the nurse turning her into a frog.

"Perfect!" Vesta said as she picked up the new frog with a smile. "I just had the loveliest lily pond put in and a frog is exactly what I need to complete it."

"Glad to be of help and to get rid of that annoying nurse. Who does she think she is trying to keep us away from Zelda anyway?" Hilda said as she opened the door to her sister's room and spotted Willard sitting beside Zelda holding her hand and crying.

"What do you think you're doing here?!!" Hilda cried as she stormed over to him. "You have some nerve showing your face after what you did to my sister!!"

"Hilda, I...."

"Vesta, do you need another frog because I happen to see a perfect example of a toad right here!!"

"Hilda, dear, don't waste your time with him," Vesta said with a frown. Now that she saw Willard Kraft, she couldn't see what Zelda saw in him at all. Usually her sister had much more sense.

"You're right," Hilda said as she glanced at her sister and then jerked Willard out of his seat. "I want you out of here now!! You did this to my sister!! You're never coming near her again!!"

"Fine," Willard whispered. He really didn't feel like arguing with Hilda right then anyway although he wanted to stay with Zelda. He pulled away from the furious witch and hobbled back to Zelda. He gently kissed her cheek before starting for the door. "I'll be back, Zuzu. I promise."

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Hilda said as she pushed him out the door and then slammed it shut. "How stupid is that man? He did this to Zelda!! Does he really expect us to let him near her again?"

"Zelda?" her mother whispered as she dropped into a chair beside her and started to cry. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," Hilda said as she pulled another chair to Zelda's bedside and sat down. She carefully took her sister's hand and struggled not to start crying too. "I knew it was an awful idea for her to start going out with Willard Kraft! Please, Zelly, you have to wake up! If you'll just wake up, I promise to find you a nice boyfriend, anyone you want, no matter how much I want him for myself! Please come back to us!"


	6. Chapter 6

Hilda was flipping through the magic book looking for any referances to the flower queen or to other possible cures for Zelda's coma while her mother, Vesta and Sabrina sat at Zelda's bedside taking turns holding her hands and stroking her face. Just then the door came open and the doctor came in.

"Visiting hours are over. You'll all have to leave," the doctor said with a frown, "and from now on, only one person at a time is permitted in here at a time!"

What a nice rule. Now why don't you go and enforce it elsewhere. We aren't leaving," Hilda said as she glared at him. "We can't just let people come and go in intensive care! It disturbs the other patients! If you don't leave voluntarily, I will have to call security to have you removed."

"Go ahead and call them," Hilda said with a smile. "You call them and I'll call the paper. I'm sure that they would just love to know how you bully families and prevent them from comforting their poor sick relatives."

The doctor scowled at Hilda but he decided not to press the issue of the four witches leaving. All he needed was for the hospital to get bad publicity in the newspaper. The board of directors would be furious.

"I need to talk to you about continuing your sister's care. I'm afraid that the latest test results don't look very good," the doctor said as he took a sheet of paper out of the chart that he held and handed it to Hilda. "As you can see, her last EEG was almost flat. I recommend that you seriously consider removing her from the respirator. At this point, all that it's doing in prolonging her death."

"What?! Are you getting a commission from a funeral home for each person you kill or something?!" Hilda yelled as she jumped up. "We're not pulling the plug on Zelda! Now get out! You're fired! I want a doctor that's willing to at least try to help my sister!"

"Fine, but you have to be prepared to face the reality of your sister's condition. She is going to die. It's just a matter of when," the doctor said as he stormed out.

"I should have turned him into a frog too," Hilda muttered as she joined her family at Zelda's bedside and took her had. "Zelly, that idiot doctor's gone now. Don't you listen to him. You're going to be fine!"


	7. Chapter 7

It was nearly midnight but the four witches hadn't moved from Zelda's bedside. Hilda was afraid to leave her sister knowing that the medical staff didn't hold out any hope for Zelda and would probably be reluctant to help her if there was an emergency. Their mother and Sabrina were both exhausted and Hilda had told them to go home and rest but neither one had wanted to leave. Vesta had been furious ever since the doctor had came in to try to convince them to pull the plug and had suggested that they make arrangements to move Zelda to a hospital in the Other Realm where the doctors wouldn't be plotting to kill her. Hilda had seriously considered that idea but she was afraid to try it due to how sick Zelda was.

"Aunt Hilda, couldn't we just go into Aunt Zelda's brain and try to fix things ourselves?" Sabrina asked.

"That's a good idea, Sabrina," Hilda said as she stood up and prepared to point herself inside.

"Hilda, no!" Vesta said as she jerked her sister's pointing finger down. "Not tonight. Everyone's too tired. If we're going to make Zelda a do-it-yourself project, we should try to get some rest and start in the morning."

"I guess so," Hilda muttered as she settled back into her seat again. "I just hate to leave her like this for any longer than we have to."


	8. Chapter 8

"Mother, are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Vesta asked that morning. The witches had discussed their plan the night before and had agreed that Vesta, Hilda and Sabrina would go into Zelda's brain to try to repair the damage and wake her up while their mother waited for them outside.

"I'll be fine. I wanted some time alone with her anyway," their mother whispered as she stroked Zelda's cheek and a tear ran down her face.

"Okay. We'll be back soon." Hilda said as she pointed and the three witches disappeared.

The three witches appeared in Zelda's brain an instant later. Everything looked similar to what Sabrina had seen when she crashed into Libby's brain once while riding with Salem in his toy rocketship. Hilda hurried over to the door that led to the main part of the brain and tugged on it but it was locked.

"What?" she said as she pulled harder and finally ended up crashing to the ground. "Why's Zelda's brain locked up?"

"Could this be something like witchsnap? I heard about Zelda's bout with that last year. Everyone in the Other Realm heard about it." Vesta said as she pointed at the door to try to open it but it didn't budge. "I heard that witchsnap causes the brain to be locked up."

"Who knows?" Hilda said as she shook her head. "Spread out and start looking for another way in. Maybe there's a backdoor to Zelda's brain that's open."


	9. Chapter 9

Willard Kraft crept cautiously down the hall carrying the purchases that he had made earlier that morning. He hoped that the nurses didn't spot him again. They had been furious when they found him after Hilda had kicked him out the day before and had threatened him with restraints if he moved from his bed.

'What do they think they're running here, a prison?' he thought. He couldn't believe how long it had taken for him to find his wallet, not to mention his pants. Somehow, he didn't think they would have let him into the hospital gift shop dressed only in a hospital gown that would get him convicted of indecent exposure if he was seen in public in it. He finally made it to Zelda's room without detection and cautiously pushed the door open hoping that Hilda wouldn't be there. He stopped when he saw a woman that he assumed was Zelda's mother sitting beside her holding her hand and crying. He hated to disturb her but he knew that this might be his only chance to see Zelda without Hilda being there to prevent it.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he crept towards the bed. Zelda's mother looked up and acknowledged his presence but she was so caught up in her grief that she didn't reply. Willard quietly sat down in one of the chairs beside Zelda and took her other hand. "I never meant for any of this to happen. If I could take her place, I would in an instant."

He opened the bag that he had been holding and took out a single red rose. He placed it carefully on the pillow next to Zelda's cheek so that she would be able to smell the fragrance easily. Then he took out a small brown teddy bear with a red ribbon around it's neck and a small heart in one hand. He tucked the bear into bed next to Zelda so that her hand was resting on top of it. Tears were rolling down his face as he looked at her, knowing that her condition was all his fault.

"Please wake up, Zuzu," He whispered as he pulled the blankets up around her. She felt so cold and lifeless. What would he do if he lost her.


End file.
